RANGERS knocked back a late bid by German side Schalke to land DaMarcus Beasley.

RANGERS knocked back a late bid by German side Schalke to land DaMarcus Beasley.

Ibrox manager Walter Smith would have been willing to allow the US internationalist to leave as he has fallen out of his first-team plans.

But the deal failed to get off the ground as the Bundesliga outfit refused to make a cash offer for the player.

It's understood they wanted to land Beasley for free but Rangers weren't interested in getting the 26-year-old off the wage bill unless there was a transfer fee involved.

However, they are believed to have shaved as much as £50,000-a-week of their wage bill by trimming their squad during the January transfer window.

Alan Gow joined Norwich City on loan until the end of the season and Charlie Adam will spend the rest of the season at championship side Blackpool.

Chris Burke moved to Cardiff City on a permanent basis earlier in the window and Jean-Claude Darcheville was the first to move on during the window when he returned to France to join Valenciennes.

Despite months of speculation and a need to balance the books with the sale of a player, the big five remained at the club.

Captain Barry Ferguson, Allan McGregor, Kris Boyd, Madgid Bougherra and Pedro Mendes were all linked with moves out of the club but no bids were tabled on the final day of transfer activity.

And now Smith will have to wait until the end of the season before he trims his squad further.

Davie Weir, Christian Dailly and Brahim Hemdani - whose combined wages would exceed £40,000-a-week - are all out of contract in the summer and will be moved on and Rangers will look to part company with another three or four existing members of their squad.